Spectacles.



J. C. WELLS.

SPECTACLES APPLICATION FILED APR. 10. 1913.

1,139,M6. Patented May11,1915.

7 m1 M -ll! FIG III FIGEDI FIG-X WITNESSES: IN l/E N 70/? X; ,2 1 JOEL (3. WELLS 3J-om f. W- By +a+wwmwmm ATTORNEYS HE NORRIS PETERS C0. PHOTO-LITHO.. WASHINGTON, D. Cv

JOEL O. WELLS, 0F SOUTHBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

SPEGTACLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 10, 1913. Serial No. 760,185.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OEL C. VVELLs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Southbridge, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spectacles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in spectacles and has particular reference to an improved structure particularly adapted for use as an eyeglass, althoughit will be understood that certain embodiments of the same may be employed-with temples if so desired.

The leading object of my invention is the provision of an improved type of mounting by which a minimum pupillary distance, or narrow P. D., as it is known in the art, may be obtained.

A further object of my invention is the provision of an improved mounting of the finger piece type in which a slight movement of the finger pieces shall cause a wide movement of the nose gripping portions.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a mounting of this character in which an extremelynarrow P. D. may be attained and in which there will be no on due movement of the finger pieces when opening the nose grips.

Other objects and advantages of my improved construction should be readily apparent by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and it will be understood that I may make any modifications in the specific details of construction shown and described within the scope of the appended claims without departing from or exceeding the spirit of my invention.

Figure I represents a fragmentary front elevation of a mounting embodying one form of my invention. Fig. II represents a similar view of a mounting embodying another form thereof. Fig. III represents a plan view of the construction illustrated in Fig. I. Fig. IV represents a plan view of the construction illustrated in Fig. II. Fig. V represents a fragmentary front elevation of another form of my invention. Fig. VI represents a sectional view on the line VI- VI of Fig. V. Fig. VII represents a plan 7 view of the blank from which the lever shown in Figs. V and VI is formed. Fig. VIII represents an enlarged plan view illustrating the construction of one form of Patented May 11, 1915.

lever. Fig. IX represents a plan view of the blank from which the. construction illustrated in Fig. II is formed. Fig. X represents a plan view of another construction of blank. Fig. XI represents a side elevation of a further modification thereof. Fig. XII represents a plan view partially in section illustrating a slight modification of the structure shown in Fig. XI. Fig. XIII represents a plan view of a mounting constructed in accordance with my improve.- ment, the levers and springs being removed. Fig. XIV represents a similar view of the construction at present employed. Fig. XV represents a plan view of another prior art construction.

In the drawings, in which similar characters of reference are employed to denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral 1 designates the lenses having their pupillary centers at the points 2, said lenses being secured by the clips 3 at the ends of the bridge member 4, which serves to connect the lenses on opposite sides of the face; It has hitherto been customary in devices of the character herein illustrated to either form a pivot seat 5 adjacent the lens clip from which the bridge 4: extends, as shown in Fig. XIV for example, or in some instances the pivot seat 5 has been placed behind the lenses. When the seat is disposed, as shown in Fig. XIV, the pupillary distance of the mounting is increased over what it would be with merely a connecting bridge by about two-thirds of the width of the seat 5 at each side, thus throwing the lenses this much farther outward and frequently rendering it very difficult to properly fit a lens before the eye with a finger piece mounting when there is a wide nose and close together eyes. from this defect various attempts have hitherto been made, Fig. XIV illustrating one of such attempts, in which the bridge extends forwardly from the pivot seat rather than inwardly and then forwardly, as was first attempted.

Another construction which has been employed to some extent is that shown in Fig. XV, in which the pivot seat 5 is located behind the lens clip 3, this form having the ad- To get away i e n vantage of presenting a slightly narrower P. D. but having disadvantages which more than offset the gain in pupillary distance, as will best be understood by reference to Fig. XV, in which one of the levers is illustrated diagrammatically in dotted lines. By reference to this view it will be seen that when the pivot is located rearwardly of the lens the amount of movement and the direction of movement of the finger piece handles 6 on account of the position of the pivot 7,

I that is necessary for even a slight opening of the guards, is so great and is in such a direction that said handle portions move inwardly toward the face a considerable amount and tend to slip out of the grasp of the fingers. This makes it very difficult to hold onto the handles in removing the mounting and renders liability of dropping of the mounting and thus breaking of the lenses, unless the handles are especially constructed to prevent slipping thereof. In any event, in the regular construction of eyeglasses the length of the finger piece portion 6 of the lever is greater than that of the guard bearing portion and consequently movement of the finger pieces but slightly releases the guards. Moreover, it is to be noted in this form of construction that there is great liability of the handles 6 striking the bridge and thus having their movement prevented before the guards are sufficiently opened. 7

My invention obviates all these objections to prior art constructions by providing a mounting in which the lens clips are almost or quite tangential with the ends of the bridge and thus bring the lenses very close to the nose and attain a short pupillary distance, while the pivots are so disposed forwardly rather than rearwardly of the lens clips that a slight movement of the finger piece handles causes a considerable movement of the nose grips or guards and the finger piece handles never shift into position where they are liable to slip from the hands of the wearer. I

In that form of my invention illustrated in Figs. I and III, the pivot seat 5 is disposed forwardly of the lens clip which is attached to the terminus of the bridge 4: and has rising therefrom the pivot 7 on which is rotatably mounted the bearing tube or sleeve 8 having extending forwardly therefrom the finger piece handle portion 6 and rearwardly therefrom the guard bearing arm 9, both the guard bearing arm and the finger piece preferably having their material disposed in a vertical plane instead of partially, at least, in a horizontal plane, as has hitherto been the practice, this vertical arranging of the width of the finger piece lever allowing the same to swing in a much less space than is required when the width is horizontally disposed. As shown in Fig. I there is mounted above the bearing 8 on the pivot 7 an actuating spring 10 for swinging the lever.

In that form of my invention illustrated in Figs. II, IV and IX, I have formed on each side of the lever an ear 11 having a perforation 12 therein to receive the pivot, the portion 13 of the lever being preferably offset to curl around the spring 10 which is mounted on the pivot between the ears 11, as is most clearly illustrated in Fig. II. Different ways for forming the lever, such as illustrated in Fig. I, are shown in Figs. VIII, X and XI, in Fig. VIII the lever being formed of two parts each having an offset 13 near one end thereof and having a portion 1a overlapping and suitably secured to the other part to form a tubular bearing. In Fig. X the lever is formed with the oifset 13 secured interior to which is a tube 15 which forms the bearing, while in Fig. XI the lever is cut into the three strips 16 the upper and lower portions oeing onset in one direction while the middle portion is offset in the other direction, thus forming a bearing for the pivot.

Fig. XII illustrates a slight modification of this idea in which the central portion instead of being offset is cut out to leave the upper and lower bearing portions 16 for engaging one side of the pivot, while passed through the slot left by the removal of the center strip 15 of Fig. XI is the U-shaped member 17 which bears against the lever at each terminus of the slot and has a portion engaging the pivot 7 the spring member 17 being extended to bear against the lens attachment whereby it serves not only to pivotallyretain the lever in position but also to actuate the same to throw the guard inward into gripping engagement with the nose.

In that form of my invention illustrated in Figs. V, VI and VII, the guard bearing portion 9 of the lever extends across one side of the bridge and has on its under side the ear 11 for engaging the pivot and curves downwardly in the portion 18, terminating in a second ear 11 adapted to rest and engage the pivot on the opposite side of the seat 5 from that on which the first mentioned ear is located, the finger piece handle 6 extending laterally from the portion 18 intermediate the two ears 11, as clearly shown in Fig. VIII. In this form of construction the spring 10 is located to one side of both of the ears 11, the said ears spanning the seat or support 5 to prevent vertical movement of the lever on the pivot, while the vertically disposed portion 9 of the lever curls partially around the spring and renders the same almost invisible when looking at the front of the mounting.

While I have mentioned my pivot seat 5 as being disposed forwardly of the lens,

it will be understood that it need not necessarily be placed directly in front of the lens but may be fitted into the recess'at the junction of the bridge and lens clip, thus presenting a most attractive appearance.

I would also call particular attention to the fact that in the types of construction hitherto employed when the guards are in their innermost position they are practically tangential with the arch of the bridge and move outwardly considerably away from this position when opened, while in my construction in their inner position the guards are considerably inward of the arch of the bridge extended and consequently when placed on the nose a better tension of the springs on the guards is secured, thesprings being more tensed and thus more satisfactorily gripping the nose, while on account of the direction of movement of the guards and their point of pivotance they tend to better approach each other with their edges acting as hooks to hook into and grip the flesh and also have a greater degree of movement than do the prior art constructions.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will thus be seen that I have provided an improved mounting having a very narrow P. D. which is retained on the face by pivoted levers whose points of pivotance are disposed forwardly of the point of attachment of the bridge to the lens clips on account of which disposition of parts the lens clips are brought in very close to the nose and substantially tangential with the arch of the bridge, while the movement of the finger piece handles serves to impart a considerable movement to the guards and thus renders most easy the removing or placing in position of the mounting with the guards gripping the nose and without the finger piece handles moving into a position where they are liable to slip off the fingers and render breaking of the glasses liable.

By reference to the drawings it will be observed that the position of the spring is varied in different views, and it will thus be understood that the spring may be disposed either between the lugs on the lever, between the lever and bridge or above the lever and bridge, or any suitable position, as desired, and that when above both of the parts, as illustrated for example in Fig. I, the double taper of the head of the pivot will allow of the ready removal and replacement of the spring as desired.

It will also be observed that the lever may be either on the inner side of the pivot or curling around the pivot between the pivot and lens attachment, in either instance the lever being so curled around the pivot as to swing freely to have the desired amount of swinging movement before said movement is limited by contact with the mounting, al-

though if desired a fixed projection may be employed for limiting the movement of the lever in either direction.

I claim:

1. The combination with an arched bridge, of lens clips secured to the termini of the bridge and disposed substantially tangential to the inner curvature thereof and a pivot seat carried by one of said parts adjacent the point of attachment of the bridge and lens clip and to one side of said point of attachment.

2. The combination with a forwardly arching bridge member, of lens clips secured thereto at the termini of the arch and substantially tangential to the curvature thereof, forwardly offset lugs carried by one of said parts, pivots secured to the lugs and levers having bearing portions engaging the pivots and having their material disposed in a vertical plane.

' 3. The combination with lens attachments, of a bridge member for connecting the same shaped to fit the nose of the wearer and extending directly forwardly from the front portion of the lens attachments whereby the lens attachments form substantial continuations of the inner curvature of the bridge and are adapted to bear against the sides of the nose, and pivot supports carried by one of said parts and forwardly ofiset relative to the lens attachments.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOEL C. WELLS.

Witnesses:

H. K. PARsoNs, FLoRENcnE. CoDERRE.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

